Madrid’s Cibeles Square was today flooded by demonstrators protesting the amnesty for Catalan independence activists, granted by Pedro Sánchez, head of the Spanish government, in exchange for parliamentary support. According to authorities, there were 170,000 people in attendance, although organizers were targeting one million people. The demonstration was called by a platform of 100 civil society entities and supported by the Popular Party and the Vox Party, whose leaders Alberto Núñez Viejo and Santiago Abascal attended.
The slogans raised were: “Spain sold for seven votes,” “Protect the coup plotters, or abandon the Spaniards,” or “Pugdemont to prison.” Tens of thousands of demonstrators, armed with posters and Spanish and European Union flags, expressed their dissatisfaction with the choices of the recently re-elected Socialist Prime Minister.
Nuñez Viejo, leader of the People’s Party, called for Brussels’ intervention, considering this measure an attack on the rule of law and the principle of separation of powers. Sánchez’s main opponent repeated: “Alarms and ultimatums have been activated about our democracy.”
After the protest ended, around 1 p.m. local time, the demonstrators dispersed. Some people headed to the headquarters of the Spanish Social Workers Party, while another group headed to the vicinity of Moncloa Palace, the official residence of the Prime Minister, which led to the closure of the highway.
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